Mon. Feb 10th, 2025

Right-Wing Group That Compares Biden Conservation Plan to Genocide Is Getting Taxpayer Money<!-- wp:html --><p>Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Wikimedia Commons</p> <p>At least five counties in western states have paid tens of thousands in taxpayer funds to a right-wing group organizing a push against a federal land conservation program.</p> <p>The Biden administration’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/7/22423139/biden-30-by-30-conservation-initiative-historic">“30 by 30” plan</a> is a voluntary environmental program with a goal of conserving 30 percent of the country’s land and water by 2030. But anti-conservation groups have a darker interpretation of the initiative. One group, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-guv-pete-ricketts-stokes-wacky-far-right-fantasy-of-biden-land-grab">American Stewards of Liberty</a> (ASL), has whipped up opposition to the plan, with leaders comparing the program to genocide. And some counties are buying into the conspiratorial hype—literally.</p> <p>At least five counties that signed onto ASL’s anti-30 by 30 effort this summer have paid ASL tens of thousands in recent months. Another has earmarked unspecified funds for the group. Others have indicated involvement in a potential ASL lawsuit over federal conservation efforts, with the planning director of one ASL-aligned county announcing that the suit would be funded by counties connected to the oil and gas industries.</p> <p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/american-stewards-of-liberty-which-compares-biden-conservation-plan-to-genocide-is-getting-taxpayer-mone">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p><!-- /wp:html -->

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Wikimedia Commons

At least five counties in western states have paid tens of thousands in taxpayer funds to a right-wing group organizing a push against a federal land conservation program.

The Biden administration’s “30 by 30” plan is a voluntary environmental program with a goal of conserving 30 percent of the country’s land and water by 2030. But anti-conservation groups have a darker interpretation of the initiative. One group, American Stewards of Liberty (ASL), has whipped up opposition to the plan, with leaders comparing the program to genocide. And some counties are buying into the conspiratorial hype—literally.

At least five counties that signed onto ASL’s anti-30 by 30 effort this summer have paid ASL tens of thousands in recent months. Another has earmarked unspecified funds for the group. Others have indicated involvement in a potential ASL lawsuit over federal conservation efforts, with the planning director of one ASL-aligned county announcing that the suit would be funded by counties connected to the oil and gas industries.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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